Making Money from Ebooks ?

[justajane]

What's stopping you other than yourself?

No one really, except for maybe the toddler crawling around me and the two older kids yammering in my ear. Haha.

I recall back when arebelspy's wife was finishing a romance novel and he found beta-readers on here. I think that's something we should implement. I've done beta readings in the past, and while I don't do the full line edit that I get paid decent money for, I do correct grammatical mistakes as I go. And I and others would likely do that for free on here. We should start a thread or a group! I love giving my opinion, as is evidenced on here often :).

When I mention the writing quality, I don't mean to imply just grammar and syntax. I think sometimes editors get a bad wrap, as if we are all just grammarians. By writing quality I mean something so much more. I mean compelling prose. That's different from just grammar. In that sense, you are likely much farther along than you think in your writing. With a few tweaks by some native English speakers, you could be well on your way. 

And when I brought up the thought "Hey , when I look at the quality of these ebooks on Amazon, I can do that or surpass that," I meant it more as an empowerment thing. I am a recovering perfectionist, and in the back of my head, I always thought that I couldn't write fiction because I wasn't good enough. And the Mustachian practical side of me wasn't going to go through the process of writing a book that was very, very likely to be rejected by traditional publishers. Then I would have viewed it as something that took away from actual money-making pursuits. But the world of ebook publishing has really thrown the door wide open for people like me to at least attempt to make few bucks.

[AmandaS1989]

I'd be interested in that Craig. It's been a while since I've done some beta work. It'd be nice to dust off the ol' skills and build some new ones maybe.

[AverageMarriedDad]

I first started blogging then self-pubbed a book after i got more comfortable with my voice. It was non-fiction men's interest category about 90,000 words or so. I don't do as well as some here, but have made about $1,000 in about 18 months it's been around with a long tail off similar books or my blog (which hit a million page views over the weekend). It was way harder than I thought and took way longer than I expected. Very cool experience, and I recently recommitted to finishing my second book I outlined a year ago. I am not expecting to get rich from it, but along with blog income I probably bring in around $200/month on the side most months.

[TheBuddha]

One more thing:
Regarding fiction, what has kept me from doing it is the limitlessness of it. When you write non-fiction, especially history, you are bound by the facts. You can embellish a little within the bounds of the place and time. And good history writers do that. But with fiction, it's the wide open spaces. Anything goes. The only thing that limits you is your own capacity to imagine and create. But, at the same time, you are somewhat bound by the readership and what they will accept as plausible or at least interesting.

I feel the same way. I'm going to start writing fiction after I finish the three nonfiction books I have outlined, and I'm a little nervous about it. I've purchased a handful of writing books, but the Story Grid is my favorite so far. The book has both a website and a podcast, and the entirety of the book can be found on the website (I bought the kindle version for convenience). I highly recommend the podcast.

[woopwoop]

And when I brought up the thought "Hey , when I look at the quality of these ebooks on Amazon, I can do that or surpass that," I meant it more as an empowerment thing. I am a recovering perfectionist, and in the back of my head, I always thought that I couldn't write fiction because I wasn't good enough. And the Mustachian practical side of me wasn't going to go through the process of writing a book that was very, very likely to be rejected by traditional publishers. Then I would have viewed it as something that took away from actual money-making pursuits. But the world of ebook publishing has really thrown the door wide open for people like me to at least attempt to make few bucks.

Amen to that, the reason I started writing was because ebooks were a thing. Sorry for misunderstanding you, as a romance writer I get pretty chuffed at all the peeps who say it's easy to write a novel in my genre.

I'd be happy to swap beta reads, I'll probably be done with my next novel in a couple of months but would be glad to trade chapters before then.

Also, for motivation:

[justajane]

And when I brought up the thought "Hey , when I look at the quality of these ebooks on Amazon, I can do that or surpass that," I meant it more as an empowerment thing. I am a recovering perfectionist, and in the back of my head, I always thought that I couldn't write fiction because I wasn't good enough. And the Mustachian practical side of me wasn't going to go through the process of writing a book that was very, very likely to be rejected by traditional publishers. Then I would have viewed it as something that took away from actual money-making pursuits. But the world of ebook publishing has really thrown the door wide open for people like me to at least attempt to make few bucks.

Amen to that, the reason I started writing was because ebooks were a thing. Sorry for misunderstanding you, as a romance writer I get pretty chuffed at all the peeps who say it's easy to write a novel in my genre.

I'd be happy to swap beta reads, I'll probably be done with my next novel in a couple of months but would be glad to trade chapters before then.

Also, for motivation:

Oh, I hear you on people's perceptions of the genre. I only pinpointed romance specifically because that's what I've been reading in the past year or so, in large part because I wanted to understand the genre in hopes of writing in it. I'm sure if I explored other genre fiction, I would encounter an equal number of things to criticize. That's the double edged sword of Amazon printing. You get the compelling books that probably wouldn't have seen the light of day. But you also get some that maybe shouldn't have seen the light of day ;).

I actually think it's extremely hard to write a successful romance that will resonate with a large cross section of (mostly) female readers. I'll find out along the way if I am any good or if my true calling long term is to edit other peoples' work exclusively. I would be okay with that too.

Thanks for the motivation video. I fall prey to expecting too much too soon. I will go where it leads, hopefully to better stories.

[Tom Bri]

[/quote]
Amen to that, the reason I started writing was because ebooks were a thing. Sorry for misunderstanding you, as a romance writer I get pretty chuffed at all the peeps who say it's easy to write a novel in my genre.

I'd be happy to swap beta reads, I'll probably be done with my next novel in a couple of months but would be glad to trade chapters before then.
[/quote]

And Amen! Romance isn't my thing, but I have read a few over the years. A good romance writer takes what seems to be a superficial formula and still surprises everyone. Not with the grand finale of the romance, but with the twists and hints to get there. You'll get no disrespect from me for a good romance author.
My first book took me ten years, because I didn't know how to plot. I had a good story, 3/4 done, and could not finish it. Finally, I fought through and got it done, and people seem to like it (given the Amazon ratings) but the climax, done by an experienced author, would have been much stronger. I am now finishing up my second book, a much longer, more complex story, and have run into the same problem. I really think for my next go-around, I should write the last chapter first!

[kewper]

Following-Thanks!

[stashing_it]

I started a thread in the Journal sub-forum I'm going to keep updated with how successful my ebook publishing is

http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/journals/book-blog-income-my-path/msg950694/#msg950694

[iamlindoro]

I'm really getting a lot out of it.  Thanks to all the experienced authors (and aspiring ones) weighing in here.  I've started working on a small non-fiction book that collects and reworks some material from my blog, and this thread has made me really excited about it.

Does anyone use Scrivener?  I've been using it so far-- it's really, really good.  It's so flexible and so featureful, and can compile into a finished file in just about any format imaginable (EPUB, MOBI, Kindle, DOC, PDF, etc.).  It's just a really neat way of managing the manuscript, front matter, file output... anway, I like it.

[woopwoop]

Yup, I use scrivener. It's nice to have an easy way to reference my character sheets and outlines for the chapters. Makes editing a lot easier, too.

[MissPeach]

Following

[MonkeyJenga]

I've started writing erotic romance ebooks with a group. It's possible that as I get more experience I'll try to publish on my own, but for now the group format helps keep me motivated. And if our stories do well, I may not need to flap my wings alone!

We're very basic at this point, writing in shared Google docs. The thought of using Scrivener excites me, though. Because I'm a huge nerd.

[iamlindoro]

OK, so let's talk pricing.  What's optimal?  I would expect that this varied depending on genre (with pulp/romance/erotica having a lower optimum and non-fiction/technical doing better at higher prices?), but I'm not sure.  To those currently selling, can you share your pricing, average copies cold per month, and whether you've done any A/B testing to determine the best price point?

There was a little bit of pricing discussion on page 1, I'd just like to see if I can get some more data points.  There isn't really anything on the exact topic I'm writing about (one other Amazon book with a similar purpose), but similar "educational" books on related topics seem to be priced between $10-20.

[Zamboni]

I seem to have the gift of gab and would enjoy writing books (I write tons of stuff for my profession, but those are not profitable, sadly.) Thank you for starting this thread!

[justajane]

So, I'm about 75 pages into my first foray into fiction writing. At this pace, I anticipate being finished in about another eight weeks, maybe more, depending on what does or does not happen in my life.

I've already created a pen name, along with a Goodreads login with this pen name, as well as a gmail account. What else should I be focusing in on? I know there are some pitfalls to creating a Facebook author page under a pseudonym. I don't think Twitter has the same constraints, so I plan to start tweeting and following many authors in my target genre. I've also joined some writer's forums.

Any tips for Goodreads? I have to admit that I have never used it before. I just read what I like on Overdrive and haven't really paid attention to lists and genres and reviews. But I know that needs to change. So far I've started rating and reviewing books. What about sending friend request to other authors? Is that kosher? Since I'm using a pen name, I can't gain friends through my friends and family, nor followers on Twitter.

Basically, what I'm getting at, is that I find the whole marketing side of this extremely daunting. Several people on here have mentioned e-mail lists. How did you gather those? Did you need to create an author page first?

If we're talking bare bones budget for self-publishing, would it be this or something close to it?
ca. $100 - website
ca. $100-$200 - book design
$250+ - editing

I don't know if I would want to pay for Facebook ads or anything like that. Has anyone done that and felt like it had a good ROI?

[protostache]

So, I'm about 75 pages into my first foray into fiction writing. At this pace, I anticipate being finished in about another eight weeks, maybe more, depending on what does or does not happen in my life.

I've already created a pen name, along with a Goodreads login with this pen name, as well as a gmail account. What else should I be focusing in on? I know there are some pitfalls to creating a Facebook author page under a pseudonym. I don't think Twitter has the same constraints, so I plan to start tweeting and following many authors in my target genre. I've also joined some writer's forums.

Any tips for Goodreads? I have to admit that I have never used it before. I just read what I like on Overdrive and haven't really paid attention to lists and genres and reviews. But I know that needs to change. So far I've started rating and reviewing books. What about sending friend request to other authors? Is that kosher? Since I'm using a pen name, I can't gain friends through my friends and family, nor followers on Twitter.

Basically, what I'm getting at, is that I find the whole marketing side of this extremely daunting. Several people on here have mentioned e-mail lists. How did you gather those? Did you need to create an author page first?

If we're talking bare bones budget for self-publishing, would it be this or something close to it?
ca. $100 - website
ca. $100-$200 - book design
$250+ - editing

I don't know if I would want to pay for Facebook ads or anything like that. Has anyone done that and felt like it had a good ROI?

I don't have any ideas for marketing a work of fiction. My marketing has focused on writing helpful blog posts in the same genre as my book and asking for email subscriptions. I suppose you could publish something in serial form and collect emails in the guise of announcing new installments. I know Cheeseburger Brown built a large following that way, with The Darth Side and Simon of Space.

As far as budget, I developed my own website and did my own editing, but those are skills I already had. I paid $499 for a very good cover design on 99designs.

I have not had good ROI on any paid advertising that I've done through Twitter, Facebook, or Reddit. The one thing I did that was relatively successful was a tech book giveaway which pulled in about 3000 mailing list members, but ultimately they didn't convert to paying customers very well (because they were there for the free stuff, naturally).

[iamlindoro]

Interesting stuff, protostache. 

I was wondering (as I was considering doing this myself) whether there would be a better conversion rate if you offered a subsection of the full book as the freebie for subscribers?  I'm writing something that should be of interest to a lot of my blog's readers, and it occurred to me that I might give away the first four chapters or so (enough to get a sense of the book but not to get to the real "meat" of it) as an incentive.

[protostache]

Interesting stuff, protostache. 

I was wondering (as I was considering doing this myself) whether there would be a better conversion rate if you offered a subsection of the full book as the freebie for subscribers?  I'm writing something that should be of interest to a lot of my blog's readers, and it occurred to me that I might give away the first four chapters or so (enough to get a sense of the book but not to get to the real "meat" of it) as an incentive.

Yep, that's a really good idea.

For the first book I give away a sample chapter as a blog post with a prominent link to the book and I give away another few sample chapters in exchange for an email address. Once they give their email address, they get a five part email "course" which contains a soft sell midway through and a hard sell at the end. This is content that isn't on the blog or in the book, but very closely related. I don't have good stats on conversion rate, but I haven't put much effort into it over the last six months and it's still basically selling itself, about $200/wk.

For the second book the setup isn't nearly as sophisticated. I still have the sample blog post and sample PDF in exchange for email, but there's no course involved. Currently it's selling a few copies a month, but I'm sure if I put some time into building up more material it would do better.

[stashing_it]

I don't know if I would want to pay for Facebook ads or anything like that. Has anyone done that and felt like it had a good ROI?

I put $20 into facebook ads to try to get email list signups to convert to book sales.   I ended up averaging 35 cents per click, but no signups so I stopped it for now and focused on the next book

[MonkeyJenga]

I don't know if I would want to pay for Facebook ads or anything like that. Has anyone done that and felt like it had a good ROI?

I put $20 into facebook ads to try to get email list signups to convert to book sales.   I ended up averaging 35 cents per click, but no signups so I stopped it for now and focused on the next book

Our group decided against paid advertising, based on feedback from other romance writers. What we're starting with for our first series:

Twitter account, lightly maintained
Submissions to free websites focused on romance writing
Once the final two parts of the series are published, package them as a whole and send around to review blogs
Possibly Facebook account, also lightly maintained

The primary goal is to get people to sign up for the email list.

I'm going to suggest giving away the first chapter on a basic blog setup as well, and tie it to the email list. That seems like a good way to hook people.

[Philbert]

So, I'm about 75 pages into my first foray into fiction writing. At this pace, I anticipate being finished in about another eight weeks, maybe more, depending on what does or does not happen in my life.

I've already created a pen name, along with a Goodreads login with this pen name, as well as a gmail account. What else should I be focusing in on? I know there are some pitfalls to creating a Facebook author page under a pseudonym. I don't think Twitter has the same constraints, so I plan to start tweeting and following many authors in my target genre. I've also joined some writer's forums.

Any tips for Goodreads? I have to admit that I have never used it before. I just read what I like on Overdrive and haven't really paid attention to lists and genres and reviews. But I know that needs to change. So far I've started rating and reviewing books. What about sending friend request to other authors? Is that kosher? Since I'm using a pen name, I can't gain friends through my friends and family, nor followers on Twitter.

Basically, what I'm getting at, is that I find the whole marketing side of this extremely daunting. Several people on here have mentioned e-mail lists. How did you gather those? Did you need to create an author page first?

If we're talking bare bones budget for self-publishing, would it be this or something close to it?
ca. $100 - website
ca. $100-$200 - book design
$250+ - editing

I don't know if I would want to pay for Facebook ads or anything like that. Has anyone done that and felt like it had a good ROI?

I was able to start a Facebook account under my pseudonym. I started it under a separate email address. I don't think you'll have an issue. The most important thing to do on Goodreads is to create your author profile and get your books listed on there. I have my GR account linked with my pseudonym's FB account, so anytime I make a new friend on FB, we can follow each other on GR, too. I don't do much on GR because it's a space for readers to connect and talk openly about books, not really a place for writers. Plus, once you release your book, you will get some negative reviews on Goodreads. It's inevitable. You don't want to read those.

It's great that you're trying to research marketing, but at this point, your main focus should be completing your book and then writing your next one. Don't let marketing take over your time. Ultimately, word of mouth sells books. Content is king, so make sure you have good content. For my first book, I researched bloggers who review books in my genre and sent them free copies. Those early reviews helped generate interest in the romance community more than paid media would have. 

In terms of cost, I get excellent covers made at goonwrite.com for $45 apiece. You can also hire someone on Fiverr for under $50. Copy-editing runs about $5 per 1000 words.

[iamlindoro]

So, I'm looking for folks who might be interested in alpha-reading the ebook I just finished.  I've done my own proofreading and the content is complete, but I'm hoping some here might be willing to do one or more of the following:

* offer feedback on content/comprehension
* offer grammar or spelling corrections
* offer formatting suggestions
* review the book (Amazon or anywhere else) when published if they find it helpful!

The book is called "Out of State: A Practical Guide to Long-Distance Real Estate Investing."  I assume the subject matter is clear from the title, but it's a real estate investment guide focusing on those who need to look far afield to find good real estate deals.  The book is currently around 24,000 words, or 65 full-sized pages/170 iBooks or Kindle pages.  Once the alpha-readers are done, I'll probably send it for a final paid proofreading and publish in a week or two.

So, if you're interested in helping a fellow Mustachian and have experience (or even just interest) in real estate investment, message me with an email address and I'd love to have you read it!

Note: I can deliver the book in MS Word format, and would appreciate comments or corrections back using the "Track Changes" functionality.  I can provide it in epub or mobi format, but it will be more painful for you to provide inline markup that way.  I may limit reading to 4-5 folks I've interacted with before if I get too many requests to keep track of.

[Tom Bri]

So, I'm looking for folks who might be interested in alpha-reading the ebook I just finished.  I've done my own proofreading and the content is complete, but I'm hoping some here might be willing to do one or more of the following:
of.[/i]

Sure email tmbridgeland  at  gmail.com
if you still need someone.

[TomBen]

So, I'm looking for folks who might be interested in alpha-reading the ebook I just finished. [/i]

Hope you still need people to read your new book, I will be honored.

Please send to a_dana36 at yahoo.com

Thank you,

[iamlindoro]

I've been around on this forum for years now, and sometimes it feels like I've seen all the questions and discussions-- but this thread has reminded me that there are always new things to get excited about and interested in.  I've learned a lot here over the past month or so.

I just published my first eBook, "Out of State: A Practical Guide to Long Distance Real Estate Investing" (I should mention that I combined my Amazon link with my own referral code-- it can't hurt!).  With it being an instructional book and a pretty niche topic, I don't expect much in the way of sales, but I sure had a lot of fun writing it and getting it published.

In the interest of contributing something back, I thought this group might like to know that I am also experimenting with self-distribution with Gumroad.  Gumroad allows you to set up your own eCommerce links without having to run a backend on your own site.  Their cost for eBooks is 5% of the purchase price plus a transaction fee of 30 cents.  Because of the lower overhead, I was able to set the price lower when offering it on my own site and still come out ahead after commission.  You basically set up a product, upload all the files (PDF, ePub, MOBI), and then set up "packages" for each of the formats.  Buyers select the format they want, complete the transaction, and get their download link.  This is how my book looks at Gumroad.

Thanks so much for the inspiring discussion here, and to those who stepped forward to read the book for content, spelling, and grammar.

[stashing_it]

I just published my first eBook, "Out of State: A Practical Guide to Long Distance Real Estate Investing" (I should mention that I combined my Amazon link with my own referral code-- it can't hurt!).  With it being an instructional book and a pretty niche topic, I don't expect much in the way of sales, but I sure had a lot of fun writing it and getting it published.

That's a nice looking cover.  Where did you get it done?  How much did it cost ?

[iamlindoro]

I just published my first eBook, "Out of State: A Practical Guide to Long Distance Real Estate Investing" (I should mention that I combined my Amazon link with my own referral code-- it can't hurt!).  With it being an instructional book and a pretty niche topic, I don't expect much in the way of sales, but I sure had a lot of fun writing it and getting it published.

That's a nice looking cover.  Where did you get it done?  How much did it cost ?

It's a commission from James at GoOnWrite.com.  It's his standard commission package, so it cost me $200. Though he estimates 5-7 days on the site, he had three concepts to me the next day, and the final version of the selected cover the day after that.  It was a very positive experience working with him.

[Megma]

I just published my first eBook, "Out of State: A Practical Guide to Long Distance Real Estate Investing" (I should mention that I combined my Amazon link with my own referral code-- it can't hurt!).  With it being an instructional book and a pretty niche topic, I don't expect much in the way of sales, but I sure had a lot of fun writing it and getting it published.

That's a nice looking cover.  Where did you get it done?  How much did it cost ?

It's a commission from James at GoOnWrite.com.  It's his standard commission package, so it cost me $200. Though he estimates 5-7 days on the site, he had three concepts to me the next day, and the final version of the selected cover the day after that.  It was a very positive experience working with him.

Good luck with the book! Sad I missed your alpha test because I was behind on the thread.

[Daughn]

I've just started writing a book myself. Thank you all for the great information. These tips will definitely make it easier for me as soon as I am ready to publish ! 

[mousebandit]

LOVE this thread!!  I just sent in 3 articles to my favorite magazine to see about getting them published, and I'm waiting to hear.  Writing for profit has been a dream of mine for most of my life. 

I'd love to hear from those who published (NDQ, iamlindoro) and those who were starting to write (justajane), about how things are going!  Progress reports really help keep me motivated! 

If the magazine doesn't pick up my articles, I will definitely be putting them together with more material into a book format.  And there are a couple of other topics I have rolling around in my head that I am excited to put on paper! 

THANK YOU for this thread!!

MouseBandit

[justajane]

Things are going fairly well. I'm knee deep in revisions on the novel. I cut 10K words on the first revision and have since added at least that, maybe more, back in with new material. For some reason I thought the hardest part was going to be getting that first draft down and that the revisions would be easy peasy for me, since I'm an editor. But it has been the opposite. The first draft came fairly quickly -- about 10 weeks to write 65K words, but the revisions? Oh, hell. That's taking forever.

[Rhoon]

I wrote a fantasy novel a few years ago and put it on Amazon. It made me about $2K the first year, and still sells a few every month, with no advertizing. It is only a bit confusing the first time you try Amazon, takes some effort to figure out, but very doable. I have my second novel about 90% done. Too bad I am a very slow writer, or I could make a living at this.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C8E9692?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

How does that work for you with being free on Amazon / Kindle Unlimited? Do you get so many $ per read? Or a monthly stipend?

[Rhoon]

Small Business Success: 100 cheap and easy ways to increase sales in your business

Would appreciate your thoughts

100 Ways to Facepunch your competition and increase your sales.

Has a MMM theme and it's catchy enough that I think I'd even pick it up ;)

[Kris]

Small Business Success: 100 cheap and easy ways to increase sales in your business

Would appreciate your thoughts

100 Ways to Facepunch your competition and increase your sales.

Has a MMM theme and it's catchy enough that I think I'd even pick it up ;)

For nonfiction, it's important to have a title that will show up easily in search results. So you have to imagine what people looking for books on this subject would type in. Rhoon's title, though catchy, won't really fit that bill. MFP, I think yours is good.

[Tom Bri]

I wrote a fantasy novel a few years ago and put it on Amazon. It made me about $2K the first year, and still sells a few every month, with no advertizing. It is only a bit confusing the first time you try Amazon, takes some effort to figure out, but very doable. I have my second novel about 90% done. Too bad I am a very slow writer, or I could make a living at this.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C8E9692?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

How does that work for you with being free on Amazon / Kindle Unlimited? Do you get so many $ per read? Or a monthly stipend?

I don't understand your question. My book is not free. Amazon pays a 75% commission on the sale price of each book. Prime members can read it 'free' but Amazon pays the author per each page read.

[Pooperman]

I'm part of the group MJ mentioned. So far, we've done 4 50-60 page romance novellas. One series is completed (and will be combined into one novel), and we've just started our second. I have done a couple erotica shorts for testing purposes, and am working on an Olympic choose your own erotica to be done in time for the opening ceremony in August.

We've had some trouble selling the new series, so I'm doing a bunch of promotion stuff in the hopes that it'll jump start the sales. So far, were in the red by about $25 overall, so not terrible. We tried some paid stuff that didn't work very well, so that's a lot of the expenses we have to overcome. The other reason is that each cover costs about $8 (for the photo... One of the group members makes the covers).

[AmandaS1989]

My book's kinda on hold while I study for the cpa exam. I do have a little over 2k words though so that's something.

[justajane]

I'm part of the group MJ mentioned. So far, we've done 4 50-60 page romance novellas. One series is completed (and will be combined into one novel), and we've just started our second. I have done a couple erotica shorts for testing purposes, and am working on an Olympic choose your own erotica to be done in time for the opening ceremony in August.

We've had some trouble selling the new series, so I'm doing a bunch of promotion stuff in the hopes that it'll jump start the sales. So far, were in the red by about $25 overall, so not terrible. We tried some paid stuff that didn't work very well, so that's a lot of the expenses we have to overcome. The other reason is that each cover costs about $8 (for the photo... One of the group members makes the covers).

At least from what I've read on self-pub forums, the algorithms for novellas on Amazon aren't very kind. That might be part of your problem.

Also, is it romance or erotica? From what I've read, Amazon can decide it's the latter (even if it's not) and relegate it to their adult dungeon.

[Pooperman]

I'm part of the group MJ mentioned. So far, we've done 4 50-60 page romance novellas. One series is completed (and will be combined into one novel), and we've just started our second. I have done a couple erotica shorts for testing purposes, and am working on an Olympic choose your own erotica to be done in time for the opening ceremony in August.

We've had some trouble selling the new series, so I'm doing a bunch of promotion stuff in the hopes that it'll jump start the sales. So far, were in the red by about $25 overall, so not terrible. We tried some paid stuff that didn't work very well, so that's a lot of the expenses we have to overcome. The other reason is that each cover costs about $8 (for the photo... One of the group members makes the covers).

At least from what I've read on self-pub forums, the algorithms for novellas on Amazon aren't very kind. That might be part of your problem.

Also, is it romance or erotica? From what I've read, Amazon can decide it's the latter (even if it's not) and relegate it to their adult dungeon.

The first series is Erotic Romance, so it's on the border (but it sold decently well). The second series is more traditional romance, so there shouldn't be any ambiguity there. I've read the same things for being thrown into the dungeon haha.

The novellas will be taken and transformed into a novel once the series is done, so about 160-175 pages when all is finished. I have no idea if doing novella series -> novel is the right choice, or whether just writing the novels would work better, even if we only produced 3-4 novels per year vs 10-12 novellas.

[jjface]

A friend of mine has just started out trying with ebooks.  If anyone is willing to give it a read here is the link - it is only 99 cents.  Though to Mr Mustachians that is 99 cents too much!

US edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I8UNB5O
CAD https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01I8UNB5O

Beauty and the Beast

"Emerging from the shadows, the fearsome creature approached her and began to sniff her neck, like a hound picking up the scent of some unfortunate doe. His claws strayed irreverently through her golden hair as the beastly figure encircled his prey, his growling ferocity striking fear into her heart, as all at once Beauty wondered if she was not to be eaten there and then..."

Moving beyond the traditional fairy tale, "Beauty and the Beast" blends gothic thriller with chivalric romance in a haunting narrative that reveals the transcendent and redemptive power of love.

Feel free to send me comments and I will pass on.  Be kind if you post reviews on amazon please!!

[bella]

Following.  Good thread.

[kaleidoscopicalkris]

following!

[freeedom]

Good thread. Following.

It seems like a lot of Mustachians are aspiring writers. Is anyone making efforts to write daily? I have a blog that I wont post because it has my name in it, but it gets like 500 hits a month. I write about 1 article per month, and make maybe $5-$10 per month from Amazon Affiliate sales.

The blog is mostly an outlet for me to write about ideas/theories I have and I could care less if I make money off of it. I write about one post per month.

[Victor]

Really need just a follow button instead of typing in stuff to follow.

[Monkey Uncle]

Really need just a follow button instead of typing in stuff to follow.

That's what the "notify" button does.  But I never use it because it sends you an e-mail instead of just showing up in your new posts queue.

[Pooperman]

I've done some solo stuff recently while we work on the second book. Leah Lovegood is my pen name for erotica (you have been warned).

Here's how it's gone for me so far:

4 short works (3 in the 6k word range, one in the 30k word range, but it's a choose your own adventure so not really 30k words).
Income: $37.30
Expenses: $31.20
Net: $6.10

[thd7t]

I've done some solo stuff recently while we work on the second book. Leah Lovegood is my pen name for erotica (you have been warned).

Here's how it's gone for me so far:

4 short works (3 in the 6k word range, one in the 30k word range, but it's a choose your own adventure so not really 30k words).
Income: $37.30
Expenses: $31.20
Net: $6.10

About how much time writing and marketing?

[Pooperman]

I've done some solo stuff recently while we work on the second book. Leah Lovegood is my pen name for erotica (you have been warned).

Here's how it's gone for me so far:

4 short works (3 in the 6k word range, one in the 30k word range, but it's a choose your own adventure so not really 30k words).
Income: $37.30
Expenses: $31.20
Net: $6.10

About how much time writing and marketing?

It takes about an hour per thousand words, so approximately 30 hours for those four stories. 0 hours marketing. Not really sure how to market smut.

[hoping2retire35]

Following

I have a book about a third of the way done but got discouraged once i started reading about how much you (don't) make. Seems like it is a big chore just to market it and comes out to less than minimum wage. I guess you could not market your work but then even if you are writing for the joy of it, not many people are reading and getting anything from it. Anyways...

I think I could write it pretty quick(less than a month), it is non fiction and I have an outline pretty well established. oh, and don't worry I write much better when I set my mind to it than my jumble of thoughts i usually splatter on the forum.

also, has anyone completed their book since posting on here? I know JustaJane is wrapping up and iamlambo published his about 6 months ago.